House GOP Seeks Quick Vote on Iraq Pullout

Breitbart.com ^ | 11-18-2005 | LIZ SIDOTI

[Reagan Man]

House Republicans sought a showdown Friday with Democrats on a proposal by one of their most senior members to force an end to the U.S. deployment of troops in Iraq.

Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., offered the resolution demanding a pullout. The GOP-run House was expected to reject it _ and make a prominent statement about where Congress stands on Iraq _ as the chamber scurried toward a Thanksgiving break.

"We'll let the members debate it and then let them vote on it," said Rep. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., the acting majority leader.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi's office had no immediate comment.

Murtha, a well-respected Vietnam veteran who voted for the Iraq war, called for the immediate withdrawal of troops Thursday, intensifying the already red-hot debate on Capitol Hill over President Bush's war policies.

Murtha's resolution would force the president to withdrawal the nearly 160,000 troops in Iraq "at the earliest predictable date."

Most Republicans oppose Murtha's plan, and even some Democrats have been reluctant to back his position. Republicans were seeking to force Democrats to stand with the respected 30-year congressman or go on the record against his proposal.

Some members of the House and Senate, looking ahead to off-year elections next November, are publicly worrying about a quagmire there. They have been staking out new positions on the war that has grown increasingly unpopular with the American public, resulted in more than 2,000 U.S. military deaths and cost more than $200 billion.

The House move comes just days after the GOP-controlled Senate defeated a Democratic push for Bush to lay out a timetable for withdrawal. Spotlighting mushrooming questions from both parties about the war, though, the chamber then approved a statement that 2006 should be a significant year in which conditions are created for the phased withdrawal of U.S. forces.

"Our troops have become the primary target of the insurgency," Murtha, a longtime hawk on foreign and military affairs issues, said Thursday. "They are united against U.S. forces and we have become a catalyst for violence. The war in Iraq is not going as advertised. It is a flawed policy wrapped in illusion."

A day after his comments, a U.S. field commander in Iraq countered the position of the usually pro-military congressman.

"Here on the ground, our job is not done," said Col. James Brown, commander of the 56th Brigade Combat Team, when asked about Murtha's comments during a weekly briefing that American field commanders routinely give to Pentagon reporters.

Speaking from a U.S. logistics base at Balad, north of Baghdad, two days before his scheduled return to Texas, Brown said: "We have to finish the job that we began here. It's important for the security of this nation."

Republicans pounced, chastising Murtha for advocating what they called a strategy of surrender and abandonment, and Democrats defended Murtha as a patriot, even as they declined to back his view.

"I won't stand for the swift-boating of Jack Murtha," Sen. John Kerry, the Democratic presidential nominee in 2004, responded Friday. Also a Vietnam veteran, Kerry was dogged during the campaign by a group called the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth that challenged his war record.

"There is no sterner stuff than the backbone and courage that defines Jack Murtha's character and conscience," Kerry said.

For his part, Kerry has proposed a phased exit from Iraq, starting with the withdrawal of 20,000 troops after December elections in Iraq. A Kerry spokesman said "he has his own plan" when asked if Kerry agreed with immediate withdrawal.

As a Vietnam veteran and top Democrat on the House Appropriations defense subcommittee with close ties to many military officers, Murtha carries more credibility with his colleagues on the issue than a number of other Democrats who have opposed the war from the start.

Bush administration officials have been cautious in responding to Murtha.

"We have nothing but respect for Congressman Murtha's service to his country," White House communications director Nicolle Wallace told NBC's "Today" show Friday. "And I think he spoke from the heart yesterday. We happen to have a real serious policy disagreement with him."

Rep. Sam Johnson, R-Texas, a 29-year Air Force veteran who was a prisoner of war in Vietnam for nearly seven years, called Murtha's position unconscionable and irresponsible. "We've got to support our troops to the hilt and see this mission through," he said.

With a Bronze Star and two Purple Hearts, Murtha retired from the Marine Corps reserves as a colonel in 1990 after 37 years as a Marine, only a few years longer than he's been in Congress. Elected in 1974, Murtha has become known as an authority on national security whose advice was sought out by Republican and Democratic administrations alike.

[petercooper]

http://www.asjewelers.com/FRstuff/7/I_have_a_plan.wmv

[ken5050]

De nada..BTW..there's another thread going on..I just stumbled across it..it seems to be the running "LIVE" thread..I'll ping you on it...regards

[stocksthatgoup]

Will Murtha Pull A "Rangel" &

Vote Against His Own Bill,

Just as Charlie Rangel

Voted Against His Own Bill

to Reinstate the Draft?

[plain talk]

You wouldn't be talking about the ah hem RINO factor, would you? :-)

[texianyankee]

Good! Bring it on! I would love to see these jerks have to put themselves on the record.

In reality, I betcha the dims & their friends find a way to wiggle out of getting nailed.

[MEG33]

Make them put it on the record indeed!

[Mazeman]

Here's KOS's strategy:

"Actually, the smartest thing to do would probably be to simply disappear for the vote. A 218-0 vote would be pretty useless as a political weapon for the GOP. No need to give them the satisfaction of a vote."

These people are pathetic.

[John Jorsett]

Reminiscent of the vote the GOP forced on resuming the military draft. When the Dems get a little too mouthy, forcing them to go on the record is quite the effective strategy. I just hope the enemy in Iraq doesn't misinterpret this as a sign that we're getting even more weak in the knees.

[jveritas]

We can get a lot of great ads to run against the traitors and defeatists in the Democrat party in next year elections.

[beezdotcom]

Wow...that looks like a cross between Hollywood Squares and A Clockwork Orange...

[countrydummy]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1524568/posts:

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A Soldier Speaks: Taste of Freedom (101st Airborne hero's letter to mom)
Sgt Hook via Michelle Malkin ^ | 11-17-05 | Sgt from 1st platoon


Posted on 11/18/2005 10:44:39 AM EST by cgk


I received an email from a mother whose son is currently fighting in Iraq with the 101st Airborne Division. He and his platoon have penned a message to the American public that is a little different from the message we are getting via the MSM. He asked his mom to help get this message out and she asked me. Here it is from the soldiers on the ground…

Mom,

Be my voice. I want this message heard. It is mine and my platoon’s to the country. A man I know lost his legs the other night. He is in another company in our batallion. I can no longer be silent after watching the sacrifices made by Iraqis and Americans everyday.Send it to a congressman if you have to. Send it to FOX news if you have to. Let this message be heard please…

My fellow Americans, I have a task for those with the courage and fortitude to take it. I have a message that needs not fall on deaf ears. A vision the blind need to see. I am not a political man nor one with great wisdom. I am just a soldier who finds himself helping rebuild a country that he helped liberate a couple years ago.
I have watched on television how the American public questions why their mothers, fathers, brothers, and sisters are fighting and dying in a country 9000 miles away from their own soil. Take the word of a soldier, for that is all I am, that our cause is a noble one. The reason we are here is one worth fighting for. A cause that has been the most costly and sought after cause in our small span of existence on our little planet. Bought in blood and paid for by those brave enough to give the ultimate sacrifice to obtain it. A right that is given to every man, woman, and child I believe by God. I am talking of freedom.


Freedom. One word but yet countless words could never capture it’s true meaning or power. “For those who have fought for it, freedom has a taste the protected will never know.” I read that once and it couldn’t be more true. It’s not the average American’s fault that he or she is “blind and deaf” to the taste of freedom. Most American’s are born into their God given right so it is all they ever know. I was once one of them. I would even dare to say that it isn’t surprising that they take for granted what they have had all their life. My experiences in the military however opened my eyes to the truth.

Ironically you will find the biggest outcries of opposition to our cause from those who have had no military experience and haven’t had to fight for freedom. I challenge all of those who are daring enough to question such a noble cause to come here for just a month and see it first hand. I have a feeling that many voices would be silenced.

I watched Cindy Sheehan sit on the President’s lawn and say that America isn’t worth dying for. Later she corrected herself and said Iraq isn’t worth dying for. She badmouthed all that her son had fought and died for. I bet he is rolling over in his grave.

Ladies and gentleman I ask you this. What if you lived in a country that wasn’t free? What if someone told you when you could have heat, electricity, and water? What if you had no sewage systems so human waste flowed into the streets? What if someone would kill you for bad-mouthing your government? What if you weren’t allowed to watch TV, connect to the internet, or have cell phones unless under extreme censorship? What if you couldn’t put shoes on your child’s feet?

You need not to have a great understanding of the world but rather common sense to realize that it is our duty as HUMAN BEINGS to free the oppressed. If you lived that way would you not want someone to help you????

The Iraqi’s pour into the streets to wave at us and when we liberated the cities during the war they gathered in the thousands to cheer, hug and kiss us. It was what the soldier’s in WW2 experienced, yet no one questioned their cause!! Saddam was no better than Hitler! He tortured and killed thousands of innocent people. We are heroes over here, yet American’s badmouth our President for having us here.


Every police station here has a dozen or more memorials for officers that were murdered trying to ensure that their people live free. These are husbands, fathers, and sons killed every day. What if it were your country? What would your choice be? Everything we fight for is worth the blood that may be shed. The media never reports the true HEROISM I witness everyday in the Iraqi’s. Yes there are bad one’s here, but I assure you they are a minuscule percent. Yet they are a number big enough to cause worry in this country’s future.
I have watched brave souls give their all and lose thier lives and limbs for this cause. I will no longer stand silent and let the “deaf and blind” be the only voice shouting. Stonewall Jackson once said, “All that I have, all that I am is at the service of the country.” For these brave souls who gave the ultimate sacrifice, including your son Cindy Sheehan, I will shout till I can no longer. These men and women are heroes. Their spirit lives on in their military and they will never be forgotten. They did not die in vain but rather for a cause that is larger than all of us.

My fellow countrymen and women, we are not overseas for our country alone but also another. We are here to spread democracy and freedom to those who KNOW the true taste of it because they fight for it everyday. You can see the desire in their eyes and I am honored to fight alongside them as an Infantryman in the 101st Airborne.

Freedom is not free, but yet it is everyone’s right to have. Ironic isn’t it? That is why we are here. Though you will always have the skeptics, I know that most of our military will agree with this message. Please, at the request of this soldier spread this message to all you know. We are in Operation Iraqi Freedom and that is our goal. It is a cause that I and thousands of others stand ready to pay the ultimate sacrifice for because, Cindy Sheehan, freedom is worth dying for, no matter what country it is! And after the world is free only then can we hope to have peace.

SGT XXX and 1st Platoon
101st Airborne Division (Air Assault)

[stocksthatgoup]

Now David Obey of Wisconsin is crying because the resolution is coming up for a vote. How awful. Obey says this is a move to drive a stake through the heart of the Murtha amendment. Obey is a pinko calling this a cheap political stunt. Brings shame to the house, the house of whores. Whaaa Whaaa Whaaa - Now claiming leadership is dividing the house. Another Nevel Chamberlain speaks!

[GianniV]

Doesn't matter if "they are on the record." They and the media never pay attention to what liberals do, say or how they vote in the past.

Thank the Lord for Lexis-Nexis to uncover the brutal inconsistencies of these folks.

[Lakeshark]

Bwahahahah....gotta love it.....

Hey, check the conversation at DD and weigh in if you would.....

[Eva]

Not voting, in this case is a vote to continue what we are doing.

[msnimje]

Murtha was one of two loons who voted FOR that Draft bill.

[countrydummy]

grrrrrrr............

[Avenger]

"For his part, Kerry has proposed a phased exit from Iraq, starting with the withdrawal of 20,000 troops after December elections in Iraq."

I'd be curious to know what military strategy this 20,000 number is based upon. I mean, why not 10,000 or 30,000? Kerry apparently thinks Americans are so stupid that they are unable to see his proposal to withdrawl 20,000 troops in December as the political ploy that it is. I am confident his analysis went pretty much like this:

"Now, what do I say to appease the anti-war crowd and yet not look too much like the surrender-monkey that I in fact am. Oh! I've got it! 20,000 in December. That's what I'll say! I am f**k*n' brilliant. Dear, can I go windsurfing now?"

He is spouting crap out of his pie hole that has no basis in the military situation in Iraq or gives any consideration to the national security of the U.S. His suggestion is nothing but politics calculated to maximize the return for himself. Disgusting. Thank God this man is not president. Someone needs to call him on this and ask him to give the rational behind his "plan." This man is a complete joke.

[A CA Guy]

For the Democrats, this is their big chance to climb on the cut and run train and to appease their backers.

There will be a price to pay for every Democrat no matter how they vote.

[Fishtalk]

You can bet the farm on this one

I ain't betting a dime cause I know you're right.

Murtha's been part of the plan right along. Like, when the going gets tough, throw him out there. And someone, somewhere, somehow, got him to betray his country. Cause I know he knows better.

He sold his soul, period. Pray the pubs have enough guts to follow it through.

Also, according to Blitz, many of the Dems, all huddled in a meeting now as you might guess, are probably just going to vote "present".

Heh. That won't work.